Winch



Sept. 15, 1953 A. c. HOYLE ET AL 2,652,230

WINCH Filed Feb. 16, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet l LOWER CLUTCH S p.- 3 E i O U 2 SPRma- SET g' i'fg CLUTCH Gouaanoa GENERATOR. O

JNVENTOR. AL BERT C. HOYL'E y HARRY Kuu'rso A oRNE -r FIG. 1

Sept. 15, 1953 1:, HOYLE ET AL 2,652,230

WINCH Filed Feb. 16, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 (\J O \o m (\J J. (\J a j 1 51 I m 2 w 3 [g a; a: l w

I 1 I m 7 FM 00 v m I q 00 w in N I v I P Q I I P e 1 1 INVENTOR. f J ALBERT C. How:

y HARRY Kmu'rsom ATTORNEY Sept. 15, 1953 A. c. HOYLE ET AL 2,652,230

WINCH Filed Feb. 16, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 88 START Srop T A As I Moroa IN Semis WH'H MoToR I P :54 f 6 m:

'INVENTOR.

Govaanon GeNen-a'roa ALBERT C. Hovu: y HARRY KHUTSON Patented Sept. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIN CH Albert (J. Hoyle and Harry assignors to mg Company, Iron Man tain, Mich.,

ration of Michigan Application February 16, 1949, Serial N o.

Knutson, Iron Moun- Lake Shore Engineerntain, Mich., a corpo- 3 Claims. (01. 254-173) and advantageous.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a reliable alternating current winch torque rather than its starting torque. I

Still a further object is to provide an A. C. winch which is faster in operation than a comparable D. C. winch.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of the embodiments shownin the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a winch with some casing parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the drive shaft as indicated by line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of Fig. 1 taken from line 3-3;

Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram of the control mechanism for the winch;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the winch with some c n p t hmkenaway; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

of the A. 0. motor [6 through idler gear I 8 to turn shaft [2 in its bearings 20, 22. The driving element 24 of hoist clutch 26 is keyed on the left hand end of shaft I2, while the driving member 28 of lower clutch 36 is keyed on the right-hand end of shaft l2. The driving upon the degree of energization or excitation of the coils. Thus poles drive shaft 38 to which the poles are keyed at 40. The shaft 38 is journaled adjacent its lefthand end in bearing 42 and at its right-hand end drum 46 by means of pinion gear 48 mounted on shaft 38 and driving gear 50 on the left-hand end of countershaft 52 which has a pinion 54 mounted adjacent its right-hand end and turning gear 56 mounted on drum shaft 58.

Thus the rotational speed of drum 46 in the on poles 60 keyed to shaft 62. journaled at shaft 38 and has a pinion gear 68 which drives gear 10 on countershaft 52 through reversing gear 12. Thus the drum 46 is driven in the lowering direction when clutch 30 is energized.

The current is fed into suitable wiring, not shown, on shaft 12 to the coils 32, 34 of clutches 26 and 30 through collector 14. The current supply is regulated by means to be described hereinafter. Obviously if neither clutch were energized, the drum 46 would be free to rotate, and for this reason the left-hand end of shaft 38 which is geared to drum 46 is provided with a conventional spring-set solenoid released brake 16. Thus when current is passed to either clutch, current is also passed to the operating solenoids The shaft 62 is 64, 66 in the manner similar to noids on the brake 1B are no longer energized and the springs set the brake shoes.

The winch structure may be augmented by the provision of a band type brake operated by a foot lever 18 equipped with a latching mechanism 80 to hold the brake in set position. Another safety feature may be in the form of a ratchet and pawl assembly, not shown, operated by lever 82. To provide for further uti1ity, a gypsy head t l may be keyed to the right-hand side. of shaft 58 and, if desired, a clutch, not shown, provided to allow independent use of the gypsy head. In order to adapt this winch structure to shipboard use, various casings may be provided, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 and in sideelevation in Fig. 3, to render the entire assembly watertight.

This type of assembly provides highly desirablev operating characteristics while utilizing, alternating current. Considering the first. operation of the winch with no load applied to. drum it will be evident that hoist. clutch 26 is energized to provide for drum rotation. in the hoist direction. The degree of slip between input and out.- put of clutch 25 bears. an inverse relationship with the degree of energization or the flux density in coils 32 in the. hoist clutch. It follows, therefore, that the speed of rotation of drum as will bear a direct relationship to the degree of energization of the coils. In a similar manner the speed of rotation of the drum in the reverse direction will bear a direct relationship to the degree of energization of coil 34 on the lower clutch 30. with no load on the drum.

It will now be evident that a heavy load on the cable wrapped on drum. 46. will tend to strip cable from the drum and rotate the drum at a speed greater than that determined by the energization of coil 34 in the lower clutch. 30, thus tending to overrun the drive. It is. obvious, therefore, that it is necessary to provide some means for retarding or checking. the speed. of drum rotation under such conditions. The output of governor generator 86. mounted on shaft 38' is. utilized to provide for control over this type of situation and will cause the lower clutch 30 to be deenergized and the hoist clutch 26 to be energized by means to be described hereinafter to cause the hoist clutch to act. as a dynamic brake when lowering heavy loads. The output voltage of governor generator 86 is also utilized in regulating the energization of either clutch to maintain a preselected speed of drum rotation- Other aspects of the control system for these clutches will become apparent in the following description.

The electrical circuit (Fig. 4) is utilized in operation of motor I5 and in controlling the energization of coils 32, 34 in the hoist and lower clutches. To start motor I6 the starting button 88 is depressed to energize coil A which closes relays Al, A2, A3 and A4 to close the circuit to the motor. The remainder of the controls are electronic and are manually regulated by movement of handle 90 mounted on a suitable pedestal 92' on the ships deck to move the wiper at over a potentiometer, movement of the lever in one direction past the top or neutral position being operable to energize the winch mechanism in the hoist direction and to energize the winch in the lowering direction when moved past the neutral may bev position in the opposite direction. The electronic components of the controls are conveniently housed within casing 96 on pedestal ti? and are placed into operation by closing switch 98 to energize the primary coils TI-P and T2-P of two transformers.

Assuming first'that wiper 94 is. in the neutral position, energization of coil II-P sets up current flow in the secondaries (all bearing the identifying legend SI) to this transformer. Thus S I-I is utilized in a grid circuit to impose a rectifled bias on the grid of gas tube let. SI heats the cathode of tube I02. SI-S sets up a plate voltage in tube I02 causing this tube to fire and. setup a current flow through four parallel circuits. to be described hereinafter. SE 1 sets up current flow in the hoist clutch coil circuit, and SP5 heats the cathodes in tubes Iilt, IE4 and It'd.

Closure of on-off switch 98 also sets up current flow in the primary TZ-P of another transformer having a, plurality of secondaries. The secondary winding S2-I- sets. up. the desired grid bias on gas tube I08 in. the lower clutch coil circuit. Secondary winding 52-4 sets. upa current flow in. the. lower clutchv 00.11 circuit, and S2-5 heats the cathodes in tubes, I08, IIO.

Referring. now to the four. parallel circuits, mentioned above, supplied by current flow throughtube. I02 by virtue; of the initial heating of its cathode and the late. voltage supplied when the on-off switch fiilisclosed. Current now throughline I.I2 energizescoil B to close relays BI, 3-2 in. the. hoist and lower clutch coil circuits, respectively. The current flow through line. H2. branches, at junction II4 into thefour parallel circuits. Thefirst circuit is through tube ltfi to set up. a. potential on resistances H5, H3 in the potentiometer. The ptoential. set up on these resistances may for thetime being he disregarded, and the slight, potential set up on resistors. I20, I22 of the. potentiometer by virtue of current flow through tube I06 may also be neglected since. resistances. I20, I22 are appreciably less than resistances I I6, I I8 and thevoltage thereacross is therefore negligible. The second of the four. parallel circuits sets up current flow through vari. ,bl'e resistor I24 and intposes a reference potential on resistances I26, I22 of the potentiometer with. the return to tube I62 being off the central tap I26 through lines I28, I30. The third of the four parallel circuits flows through resistors I32, I34 and back to tube I62 through. line I30. The fourth and last of the parallel circuits sets up current flow through voltage regulator I36 back, to tube I02 through line I30 and maintains constant voltage in each branch of the parallel circuit just. described.

Under these conditions with the wiper 94 in the neutral point or at junction I26 on the potentiometer, it will be seen that. there is no current flow through either of clutch coils 32, 34 since the bias on the grids of tubes I00, I08 in the hoist and lower circuits, respectively, is preselected to merely provide a reference point and not to provide the bias necessary to cause the tubes to fire. When wiper 94 is moved into the raise portion of the potentiometer or onto resistance I20, a positive potential is placed on the grid of tube I00 by means of current flow through the variable resistor I38, normally closed relay I40, and the adjustment resistors I44, I45, sim, ilarly, it will be noted that a, positive potential is simultaneously placed on. the cathode of the lower clutch control tube I08, thus blanking out this circuit while he positive poten ial n tube I causes current flow through coil 32 to enhandling rated loads but provides for speeds inergize the hoist clutch. As the speed of dr m versely proportional to load between 220 feet and rotation increases, the voltage output of gover- 400 feet per i te,

nor generator 86 is fed into the circuit through This torque sensing system is operated from transformer T3 and is rectified in tube I02 The 5 transformer T4 connected in series with the drive output of the governor generator is I imposed motor I6. The output of the transformer T4 across the variable resistance I38 in series opis placed across an adjustable resistance I46 position to the voltage selected by means of the stepped up by transforme T5, d th reetp potentiometer. Thus the increasing speed of fied through selenium rectifiers I48, I50. The the drum and, consequently, of the governor gen- D. C. output thus obtained is placed across reerator will now reduce the positive bias on the sistance I52. As the load on the drum is ingrid of tube I00 to reduce the current flow creased, the load on motor I6 is similarly ingovernor generator is balanced with the selected creasing the negative bias on the grid of tube I06. voltage, the bias on the grid of tube I00 causes Thus current flow through tube I 06 is reduced a steady flow of current through coil 32 to mainas the torque is increased. The circuit is detain a constant selected speed of drum rotation. signed as to stop current flow through tube I 06 When the wiper 94 is moved tothe lower porwhen rated load is handled. When it is rememtion of the potentiometer or onto resistance I22, bered that current flow through tube I 06 supa coil C is energized to open normally closed replies a potential on resistances I I6, I I6 in the lays I40, MI and to close the normally open relays potentiometer in additive relationship to resist- I 42, I 43. Assuming for the moment there is no ances I20, I22 it will be appreciated that stopload on the drum and the winch is operating unping current flow through tube I06 will prevent der light line conditions, it will be apparent that 25 any further increase in voltage as wiper 94 is the switching accomplished by means of relays moved past either junction I54 or I56 on the po- I40, I, I42 and I43 wil1 now impose a positive tentiometer. However, at light line conditions bias on the cathode of the hoisttube I00 to blank the current flow through tube I06 is unimpeded out the tube while restoring the negative bias to d m m t 1 W pe 4 P junct ns I54, the cathode of tube I08 and placing a positive I 56 will put an additional potential across rebias on its grid to cause this tube to fire and sistance I38. Intermediate loads (intermediate energize the lower clutch coil 34. As the drum qu s) W l Vary the p t t al i posed on rerotation in the lowering direction increases, it a ees H 8 to Cause the Speeds above the Will be apparent that the governor generator outdesired maximum for rated loads to be inversely put in series opposition across resistance I38 will p op t o o h ad. R fe i ack to the until equilibrium is reached Under these conresent a Speed Of 2 t P m nute While d1t1ons the cable on drum 46 is driven down by movement Wlper 94 p t either of se J means f the lower t h, tions with a load less than rated load will result If, however, the drum is loaded to such an ex- 40 in Speeds above 220 feet per minute p o a maxivoltage selected by means of the potentiometer motor 200 s coupled to and drives the shaft 202 the point where the tube becomes blanked out. 206 through a gear l1min including gears 298, 2m However, since the control tubes I 00 and I 08 in and Motor 1 turns driving element 2M the grid of one is in circuit with the cathode of through another gear train including gears 2I8, the other and vice versa, such blanking out of 229, 222 n i n element 204 of hoist tube I 08 due to the drum overrunning the se- 011112011 205 is rotatably mounted on Shaft 2 by lected speed will simultaneously result in a posimeans of bearings 228 and 239 W ile the driven tive bias being imposed on the grid of the hoist element 232 of the hoist Clutch s keyed to the control tube I00. Similarly the cathode of tube {Shaft Driving element 214 of ower lutch m I00 which has up to this time been positive now 15 Similarly v unted on shaft 226 by becomes negative, and the tube fires, causing the beanngs and the dllven member of the hoist clutch to be energized. When the hoist lower clutch 1S keyed to shaft 22 clutch is thus energized it acts as a dynamic brake i when 0011s 240 in the driven members on the Winch mechanism Therefore while the of hoist and. lower clutches 206, 2H5, respectively, load continues to lower, the hoist clutchfis cnare not energized driving elements of ergized to such an extent that the lowering speed the clutches are turned in opposite directions is maintained at the selected Value. about shaft 226 by motor 200. Should coils 238 a I driven part 232 of hoist clutch 206 be en r- Thus it W111 be a arent that th electronic controls may be desigfied to provide f or a linear glzed' the driven part of the clutch W111 rotate at change of speed with movement of Wiper 94 a speed dependent upon the flux density to turn shaft 226 and drive drum 242 in the hoisting diacross resistors I20 and I22. This circuit also mmotion through a gear train including gears 244, p ates a torque sensing syste Whleh may 246, 248, and 250. Conversely, if coils 240 in 7 lower clutch 2I6 were energized, shaft 225 would to continue this linear relationship at speeds b driven i the opposite di ti t t drum above that selected as the maximum desirable 242 i the lowering direction through the gear speed for rated loads. For example, one such intrain.

stallation provides for a maximum line speed in The winch assembly is completed by provision either direction of 220 feet per minute when of solenoid brake 252, collector rings 254, and

governor generator 256. It will be readily apparent that the output of governor generator 255 may be fed into the electrical circuit described above to obtain the proper regulated current to be fed into coils 238, 240 through collector rings 2'54. This arrangement has some advantages over the modification shown in Figs. 1 through 3 in that th shaft lengths and bearing pressures may be materially reduced. Furthermore this modification may the other.

It will 'beapparent, therefore, that I have provided a winch mechanism operating on alternating current which has all the desirable operating characteristics of direct current winches while having less weight and lower cost than direct current winches. It will be noticed that the alternating current motor l6.runs continuously as compared to D. C. winches which are stopped whenever the load is stopped. This winch, then, is limited not by its starting torque as is a D. C. winch, but by its pull-out torque. For this reason this alternating current winch can handle bigger loads. Another advantage in having a continuously operating motor resides in obtaining faster operation of the winch since only slow speed parts are accelerated in the present winch while a D. heavy parts to high speeds. The electrical circuit described above may be so adjusted by means of the variable resistors located in the grid circuits of the control tubes of each clutch to provide extremely safe landing speeds wherein a rated load may be lowcred at avirtual creep.

This invention is not concerned with the details of this specific control circuit but is concerned with the electrical circuit only insofar as providing for power hoisting and lowering and for dynamic braking when lowering heavy loads. Thus the invention resides in providing a winch structure having two clutches, one for hoisting and one for lowering with the hoisting clutch serving as a dynamic brake when lowering overrunning loads. It is believed to be apparent that there are other circuits which may be designed to provide these operating characteristics and that the design of such a circuit is in the province of an experienced electronic control designer.

Obvious changes in the arrangement of the clutches and in the drive from the clutches to the drum will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, one of the experimental embodiments in the development of the present winch utilized clutches arranged to drive through a planetary transmission, but was thought to be unsatisfactory due to the necessary high planetary gear speed. Therefore, this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the claims We claim:

1. A. Winch comprising, in combination, a motor, first and second clutches having input and output members, the input members being driven by said motor, a drum, the output member of the first clutch being connected to said drum to rotate the drum in the hoisting direction, the output member of the second clutch being connected to said drum to rotate the drum in the lowering direction; each clutch including controllable means for transmitting force between the input and output members at a variable slip between the members, means for regulating said controllable means in the first clutch to drive the drum at a selected speed in the hoisting direction, means ior regulating said controllable means in the second clutch to drive the drum at a selected speed in the lowering direction, and means responsive to a lowering speed greater than the selected lowering speed due to an overrunning load on the drum to regulate said controllable means in the first clutch so the first clutch acts as a brake and maintains the selected lowering speed.

2. In a winch, a motor, a first electromagnetic clutch driven by said motor and being connected to a drum to turn the drum in the hoisting direction, a second electromagnetic clutch driven by said motor and being connected to said drum to drive the drum in the lowering direction, means for energizing the first clutch to vary the flux density and regulate the hoisting speed of the drum, means for energizing the second clutch to vary the fiux density and regulate the lowering speed of the drum, and means responsive to a lowering speed greater than a preselected lowering speed to de-energize the second clutch and to energize the first clutch to act as a br ke and prevent overrunning.

3. A. winch having in combination, a motor, a cable drum, a pair of clutches for connecting motor to said drum, the first of said clutches being operative to transmit a force to said drum tending to rotate the drum in the hoisting direction, the other of said clutches being operative to drive the drum in the lowering direction, said clutches being of the electromagnetic type wherein the flux density is varied to vary the force transmitted thereby, means for selecting a hoisting speed and for controlling the flux density in the first clutch to maintain the selected speed, means for selecting a lowering speed and for controlling the flux density in said other clutch to drive the drum in the lowering direction when its speed is at or below the selected speed, and means responsive to a lowering speed in excess of the selected lowering speed to deenergize said other clutch and to energize said first clutch to dynamically brake the drum.

ALBERT o. I-IOYLE. HARRY KNUTSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 744,423 Steckel Nov. 17, 1903 2,286,778 Winther June 16, 1942 2,406,156 Nardone Aug. 20, 1946 2,462,747 Jacobs Feb. 22, 1949 2,489,832 Symonds Nov. 29, 1%9 2,512,017 Hayes June 20, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 158,159 Germany Feb. 2, 1905 

